First edition of SEDA

The 2024 edition of the Salavisa European Dance Award - SEDA was awarded in November 2024 to Dorothée Munyaneza (Rwanda/UK/France) and Idio Chichava (Mozambique). The finalists, announced in April, also included Bouchra Ouizguen, Catarina Miranda and Dalila Belaza.

Created in 2023 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to honour the legacy of the Portuguese dancer, teacher and artistic director Jorge Salavisa (1939-2020), the SEDA is awarded every two years to artists from anywhere in the world, with a prize value of 150,000 euros.

The Prize was promoted by Kees Eijrond, a long-time friend of Jorge Salavisa. The Kees Eijrond Foundation is one of the funding entities and one of the six European partner institutions, alongside Sadler's Wells (London, UK), ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival (Vienna, Austria), KVS (Brussels, Belgium), Dansehallerne (Copenhagen, Denmark), Maison de la Danse/Biennale de la Danse (Lyon, France) and Joint Adventures (Munich, Germany). Visit the Gulbenkian Foundation website to learn more about the selection process.

Meet the winners:

Dorothée Munyaneza is a multidisciplinary artist who uses music, singing, text and movement to address rupture as a dynamic force and to create spaces of resonance and hope. Drawing from a diverse cultural heritage — a childhood spent in Rwanda, fourteen years living in London, a move to Paris and now being based in Marseille — her creations weave dialogues with guest collaborators, such as performers Nadia Beugré and Holland Andrews, musicians Alain Mahé, Ben LaMar Gay and Khyam Allami, designer Stéphanie Coudert, and visual artist Maya Mihindou.

Idio Chichava is a Mozambican dancer, choreographer and artistic director. Born in Maputo, he began dancing in a traditional dance group in 2000. He immersed himself in contemporary dance the following year, through CultuArte and Danças na Cidade, and expanded his repertoire in collaboration with Lia Rodrigues and Thomas Hauert. He has collaborated with Kubilai Khan Investigations in France since 2005. He founded the Converge+ company in 2012. Back in Maputo since 2020, he has been creating workshops, meetings and shows that promote decentralisation, moving art from the cities to the outskirts.